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Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning

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  1. Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning, fan assembly: crwdns2935265:01crwdnd2935265:01crwdnd2935265:03crwdne2935265:0 Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning, fan assembly: crwdns2935265:01crwdnd2935265:02crwdnd2935265:03crwdne2935265:0 Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning, fan assembly: crwdns2935265:01crwdnd2935265:03crwdnd2935265:03crwdne2935265:0
    • identify the exact type of your ThinkPad

    • get the right fan assembly, in this case FRU P/N: 42W2779

    • disconnect power-supply

    • detach battery

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    • find all five screws with the shown symbols and unscrew them

  3. Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:03crwdnd2935265:01crwdnd2935265:02crwdne2935265:0 Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:03crwdnd2935265:02crwdnd2935265:02crwdne2935265:0
    • unscrew all the shown screws

    • These ones are tiny

    • watch the sizes of the screws

  4. Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:04crwdnd2935265:01crwdnd2935265:02crwdne2935265:0 Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:04crwdnd2935265:02crwdnd2935265:02crwdne2935265:0
    • remove the palm rest carefully

    • If you have a touchpad or fingerprint reader watch the cables

    • blow the dust away

  5. Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:05crwdnd2935265:01crwdnd2935265:03crwdne2935265:0 Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:05crwdnd2935265:02crwdnd2935265:03crwdne2935265:0 Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:05crwdnd2935265:03crwdnd2935265:03crwdne2935265:0
    • lift the keyboard carefully

    • watch the cable

    • Use a spudger to detach the cable

    • lift the keyboad and leave it on the side

  6. Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:06crwdnd2935265:01crwdnd2935265:03crwdne2935265:0 Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:06crwdnd2935265:02crwdnd2935265:03crwdne2935265:0 Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:06crwdnd2935265:03crwdnd2935265:03crwdne2935265:0
    • just for reference: images showing the keyboard-connector

    • blow the dust away

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    • unscrew the left and right screw of the keyboard bezel and speakers

  8. Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:08crwdnd2935265:01crwdnd2935265:02crwdne2935265:0 Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:08crwdnd2935265:02crwdnd2935265:02crwdne2935265:0
    • unscrew the first two screws of the shielding

  9. Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:09crwdnd2935265:01crwdnd2935265:03crwdne2935265:0 Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:09crwdnd2935265:02crwdnd2935265:03crwdne2935265:0 Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:09crwdnd2935265:03crwdnd2935265:03crwdne2935265:0
    • carefully lift the wireless antenna cable from the cable guide

    • unscrew the last two screws from the keyboard bezel

  10. Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:010crwdnd2935265:01crwdnd2935265:02crwdne2935265:0 Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:010crwdnd2935265:02crwdnd2935265:02crwdne2935265:0
    • watch the claws of the bezel (Sorry, no image!)

    • carefully pull out the keyboard bezel

    • flip the bezel 180°

    • watch the cables

  11. Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:011crwdnd2935265:01crwdnd2935265:01crwdne2935265:0
    • remove the wireless antenna cable from the cable guide of the fan assembly

    • you might want to use a metal spudger to widen the cable guide if necessary

  12. Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:012crwdnd2935265:01crwdnd2935265:02crwdne2935265:0 Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:012crwdnd2935265:02crwdnd2935265:02crwdne2935265:0
    • unscrew the fist, tiny screw of the clip

    • unscrew the longer screw of the clip

    • remove the clip

  13. Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:013crwdnd2935265:01crwdnd2935265:02crwdne2935265:0 Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:013crwdnd2935265:02crwdnd2935265:02crwdne2935265:0
    • remove the shorter screw of the second clip

    • remove the longer screw of the second clip

    • remove the clip

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    • remove the last two screws of the fan assembly

    • detach the power cord with a spudger

  15. Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:015crwdnd2935265:01crwdnd2935265:02crwdne2935265:0 Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:015crwdnd2935265:02crwdnd2935265:02crwdne2935265:0
    • CPU with thermal grease

    • other chip with termal grease

    • carfully lift the fan assembly

    • you may need to pull a little more because of the thermal grease

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    • blow the dust away

    • take a spudger and remove the old thermal grease

  17. Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:017crwdnd2935265:01crwdnd2935265:02crwdne2935265:0 Repairing Lenovo R61i fan assembly replacement or cleaning: crwdns2935265:017crwdnd2935265:02crwdnd2935265:02crwdne2935265:0
    • get a paper-wiper

    • wrap the wiper around the spudger

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    • get some alcohol on the wiper

    • clean the CPU with the wiper

    • clean the chip with the wiper

    • Ensure there is no old thermal grease left

    • Follow this guide to add new thermal paste to the CPU.

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    • now place the new fan assembly

    • pay attention to the thermal grease on the backside of your new fan assembly

    • press down the CPU- and chip-connector

    • don't forget to plugin the power cable of the fan assembly

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To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

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Dennis

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This worked perfectly for a couple of my IBM Lenovo R61s. It was spot on except in step 3 you need to remove both screws by the red circles in order to the get inside bezel off, for the R61 anyway. Thanks for the great tutorial!

tech4eleven - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0

Excellent guide! It took me less than 1 hour to complete all the steps, and get my R61 up and running again! Thanks a lot

Ioannis Kolaxis - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0

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